I'm not really that much of a newbie but I've screwed this up in the past. Now that I'm ready to build again I don't want to make the same mistake. I believe you are not supposed to use a magnetized screw driver on electronic parts. I once shorted out a motherboard and that may have been the reason. My problem is I haven't got the dexterity to hold those tiny screws and use a regular screw driver and feel it might be worse to get them stuck under the mobo. Any suggestions appreciated.

I use them all the time. Ive always heard that was a myth.

Well, I'm fairly sure that you wouldn't want to hold a magnet against an IC, whether it's TTL or CMOS. I seriously doubt though that using a magnetic screwdriver to build a computer is going to cause any problems though, provided that you're about as carful as common sense dictates with ANY screwdriver while screwing around inside your PC.

You may be able to put a little vasoline on the tip of the screwdriver to keep the screw stuck. After that take a thin rag or paper towel on the end of the screwdriver and wipe off any excess vasoline thats in the screw. It shouldn't take much to hold it on so start off with just a tiny amount, and increase if necessary.

You would need a very strong magnetic field to cause damage to ICs (induce currents that would fry the circuitry). There is no damage you can do with a measly magnetic-tip screwdriver. Just don't rub that thing against any floppy disks

You shorted that motherboard either because you were silly enough not to disconnect the power while working. Or you left a metal object on the mobo causing a short the next time you turned it on. Either way the same would hav happened with a non-magnetic tool.